Pterichis obcordatilabia Kolan., Baranow, S.Nowak & A.Fuentes 2020 SECTION Pterichis

TYPE Drawing by © Baranow

Common Name The Heart-Shaped Lip Pterichis [In reference to the obcordate lip shape – derived from the Latin ob- (‘towards’) -cordata (‘heart-shaped’) and labium (‘lip’)]

Flower Size

Found in La Paz department of Bolivia in cloud forests at 3100 to 3580 meters as a small to medium sized, cold growing terrestrial or lithophyte with a leafless at blooming occuring in the summer on an erect, peduncle terete, 6 to 16" [15 to 40 cm] long, glandular-puberulent apically, provided with 3 to 5, acuminate, tubular sheaths, rachis 1.2 to 2" [3 to 5 cm] long, 3 to 7 flowered inflorescence with ovate, acuminate, glandular-puberulent, just longer to just shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying flowers with green sepals, whitish petals with brown stripes and a yellowish lip with brownish stripes.

" This species strongly resembles Pterichis acuminata from which it can easily be distinguished by the oblong-ligulate petals, which are not widened near the middle and the lip being obcordate in outline, widest near the base of the apical lobe (vs lip reniform, widest near the base in P. acuminata). Moreover, the flowers of P. acuminata are reddish brown or reddish green while in the new species the petals are whitish and the lip is yellowish with brown stripes. In P. multiflora (sect. Acraea) petals are adnate to the dorsal sepal and ciliate along margins and the basal part of the lip is reniform in outline. Pterichis acuminata was not accepted by some authors (e.g., Schweinfurth 1958) who considered it as a synonym of P. galeata. The two species differs in lip form (distinctly auriculate in P. galeata, without prominent auricles in P. acuminata) and petals size and shape (subequal in length to sepals and not unguiculate, oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate-sagittate in P. acuminata vs slightly longer than sepals and unguiculate, lanceolate-elliptic in P. galeata). The concept of two separated species was accepted in the more recent publications (e.g., Garay 1978, Kolanowska & Szlachetko 2017)." Kolan. 2020

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

* Blumea 65: 216 Kolan., Baranow, S.Nowak & A.Fuentes 2020

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